La Ballona/ Culver City Runabout

It was down right hot this day! And yet I love the Ballona Creek Bike Path. It's one of those places where in the middle of the city you can feel like you're NOT in the middle of the city.

Running from Santa Monica I enter the path about 3.5 miles from home at the Culver Blvd entrance seen here.

Looking under the overpass you can see all of the way down to the ocean which is very cool. At this point in the run there is actually a slight ocean breeze to keep things cool. Of course, as soon as you make the turn inland any hint of that breeze is gone. It now becomes a concrete desert that stretches out in front of you as far as you can see.

The upside of this run is it is very flat with the exception of the inclines under the overpasses.

They come in various sizes, mostly I assume depending on the width of the road you are running under. Another positive of course is these are the only shade on this part of the route. If my memory serves me correctly there were six of these underpasses on this particular run so certainly not too much in the way of hills to deal with. Probably the biggest one is the incline leading up to Dusquene Ave in Culver City where I got off the path and headed downtown Culver City.

Of course since this is a runabout, that means I can stop for a coffee if I want and conveniently, there is a Starbuck's right at the intersection of Culver Blvd and Washington Blvd in downtown.

What a very cool little downtown. Loads of shops and new restaurants and a whole lot of history as well. Today was not a day for exploring history or shopping and yet it made for a great little break.

Lots of goofy stares when a guy who is obviously running and sweaty stops to drink a hot coffee and eat a bagel and then when he's done, heads off running! Lind of funny to watch the reactions!

It's pretty much a straight shot up Venice Blvd back towards the beach from downtown Culver City and actually, although it is more inland than the bike path it is cooler because of the large shade trees along the way.

There you have it! A quick little just over 13.5 mile runabout from Santa Monica to Culver City and back.